Significance
by aaataraxia
Summary: A story of Clare and Eli inspired by the Grimm fairy tales...
1. Firefly

**Note: I do not own Degrassi, nor do I own the Grimm tales. (:**

**This is my very first Fanfic, so.. I don't really know how it's going to turn out! xD Please Review, thanks!  
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Clare was headed towards the old well in the woods behind her house. This is where she usually went to get away from the constant noise in her once peaceful home. It was a warm, damp summer evening, and fireflies were everywhere. As one landed on her hand, she stopped and looked to the stars in the sky.

"You know," she said to the firefly, "you are _just_ as significant as those bright, glowing balls of gas up there."

With an encouraging lift of the hand, the firefly flew slowly away from her as she neared the well. Being careful not to make much noise, she crept up to sit on some fallen stones. She sat there for hours, thinking about how her parents used to get along, how they used to be so happy and in love with each other. Ever since her father landed a new job, he had been spending less time at home. Her mother was a complete mess, and there was never a time Clare had to herself, except when the two bickering parents were in the same place at the same time.

Hearing a small croaking noise, she jolted out of the cloud she was on and began to look for the source.

"Hello?", said a slightly nervous Clare, "anyone there…?"

Just then, Eli showed up, with a disgusting, slimy green frog. He had that signature smirk plastered on his face, and Clare was familiar with this look.

"So, Eli… what do you have in store for me this evening?"

"Well, I know you've been having a hard time at home", he said, "and I've got this magical frog here to help you out."

Eli then explained that the frog her carried had some kind of curse over him. He was once a loved young man, living a pretty good life with his parents and two younger sisters. He had awful dreams at night, dreams where a sneaky old witch would come to him and tell him that he would set his whole house afire with everyone inside, unless he helped her do her evil deeds. Of course he agreed in these dreams. Upon waking up, he felt relieved; thinking to himself that they were just dreams, and no harm would actually come to him or his family. After a few weeks of the terrible nightmares, the boy was up in bed, unable to sleep. He had an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach. He began to smell something weird after a while, and looked out his window. He saw a dark, flowing figure, hovering around, zapping fire to the sides of his house. He ran down the stairs, and out the door. Confronting the figure, he noticed it was the witch from his dreams. She started reciting some kind of spell, saying he didn't keep up his end of the deal. The next thing he knew, he woke up as a small frog, helpless and alone. Eli told Clare that if a person were to take him for what he was, and give him everything he asked for one evening, he would turn to man again, and be able to grant that person one wish.

Once Eli finished his story, he looked over to Clare, whose eyes looked like a scared little puppy.

"Eli, I think you've completely lost your mind." Said Clare, being rather blunt.

"Oh please, Clare. It couldn't hurt. All you have to do is feed him, keep him safe, and give him a nice place to sleep for _one_ night, and then you both get what you want – and need, quite frankly."

"Well…", Clare said, "I guess it wouldn't hurt. It couldn't do any harm, anyway."

Eli seemed content with her answer, and moved closer to her. He gently put the frog on the edge of the well, and pushed Clare's bangs back a bit.

"Clare, you deserve so much better than what you have to deal with right now…"

With that, he placed a sweet kiss on Clare's bare forehead, and turned to leave the way he came to her.

Clare stood there for just a few short moments before turning to the frog. It was looking at her in the most peculiar way, before…

"So, are we getting out of here, or what?", said the frog.

Clare jumped a little, "Oh! Wow… I think this is a first. I guess you could sit in my pocket so we can safely carry you through the house…"

Clare was aware how strange it was to be talking to a frog, but since Eli had seemed so sure of himself, she just went with it.


	2. Granted?

Walking closer to the house, Clare noticed that her parents were still barking at each other. Patting her pocket, she quietly told the frog to be quiet. She slowly opened the door, hoping to go unnoticed. She made it about two steps up when her father grabbed her arm.

"What on _Earth_ do you think you're doing? You've been missing for _hours, _young lady."

"Dad, do you think I enjoy sitting in my room listening to the two of you fight the way you do? I was out at the well. I just needed some air. I needed to get away from you both."

Clare's father raised his hand as if to hit her, but let out a heavy sigh and looked down in defeat. He harbored an immense amount of anger, but knew he could never take it out on his own daughter. He simply turned, shook his head, and left the house. Clare's mother sat alone in the kitchen, head in hand. Although Clare felt that she should comfort her mother, she remembered the talking frog in her pocket, and slid up the stairs to her room.

"Well, that sure was unpleasant", said the frog, "I'm not exactly used to being bounced around in a pocket."

"Yeah, well I'm not exactly used to talking to a _frog_. You'll be fine. I'll go downstairs to get some food and water for you… For now, make yourself comfortable?"

Clare headed out the door, still a bit confused over the whole situation. Coming down the stairs, Clare could hear her mother crying. She knew that she would need to console her mother for a bit.

"Mom…"

In the most unrecognizable voice, her mother said "Clare. You have caused my life to be turned upside down. You are such an inconsiderate child. You were the worst accident that could ever have happened to this family… Do you see what you've created?"

A shocked and confused Clare just walked over to the fridge, grabbed something that could easily be heated, and poured a glass of water. Along with the reheated food, glass of water, and a small dish, she started toward the steps. She turned one last time before heading up, to see her mother giving her the most evil stare she's ever seen. Scared, she went as quickly as she could back to her room. Clare started to cry as she poured some of the water into the dish. The frog hopped over to where she set his food. As he ate, she just sniffled and buried her head into a pillow. One the frog finished, he faced Clare and waited for her to end her episode. After a few minutes, she wiped her eyes and began to tell the frog about her experiences…

"It all started about a year ago. My parents were beginning to disagree on silly things, and would argue about it for days after. I can't help but feel that it is somewhat my fault. Once I started to get more comfortable with myself, my parents started acting as though they raised me wrong. A lot of things happened to my older sister, and they thought I might end up like her. I'm just trying to be myself, you know? And when they found out I had a boyfriend they went ballistic. Especially when they met him. Eli isn't exactly the "praise the lord" type of guys, and my parents aren't all for that. Anyway… They've just been fighting _so_ much lately. My dad is hardly ever home, and my mom's beginning to scare me…"

"Well, Clare, I can promise you that once this night is over, you can have your one wish, and then all your troubles will disappear as though nothing ever happened."

After tucking the frog into a warm, makeshift bed, Clare walked over to her window. She remembered what she had told a small firefly the night before, and tried to tell her the same. 'You are just as significant…', she thought. Not entirely convinced with herself, she gave up and went to sleep.

That night, Clare had a strange dream. In the dream shy was shopping in a small country store, and everything seemed very peaceful. She walked up the stairs to a drafty area of the store, where there was no one else to be seen. She walked over to a damp looking box, and dug around inside of it. She pulled out a doll whose face was half melted. When she turned it over, it said something she could hardly make out. To her, it sounded as though it had said she was being watched. And she certainly did get that feeling. She ran back to the bottom of the stairs and all the other shoppers were lying on the ground. She quickly went outside and as soon as she shut the door, she started falling.

Waking up, Clare noticed she was on the floor of her bedroom. Everything was a bit fuzzy, but once she was better aware of her surroundings she felt less scared about her nightmare. She slowly climbed back into bed and after a while, fell asleep once more.

It was around 7 in the morning when Clare felt something sticky bumping on her arm. She looked over and noticed the frog was patiently waiting for her to wake up.

"You've treated me well, and I'm now ready to grant you your wish. You only get one, so I'm allowing you to think for as long as you need to…"

"I know what I'm wishing for, little frog."

With that, Clare closed her eyes and made her wish. Almost instantly the world went still. She felt as though she couldn't breathe. She was floating midair for nearly ten seconds before falling to her bed with a strange sense washing over her. She couldn't exactly place it, but she did notice that there was no longer a frog in her room. Nor was there a man…

She got up from her bed and didn't bother to put any day clothes on. Instead, she bolted for the stairs. Stopping at the last step, she looked to her left, and saw her mother making breakfast, while humming some sort of tune. Noticing that Clare was watching her, her mother gave her an eerie smile, and loudly slapped the knife she was holding onto the cutting board.


End file.
